Grading-amalgamator.



No. 664,7l2.- i .Patented nec. 25, |900.

A. z. BALnENE-nu. Y

GRADING'AMLG'AMATOR.

(Applicazion med sept. 15, m99.)

Tus. cams frans co. PHofoLn'Ha. wAsmNarnN, n. c.

A 770/?NEYS.

UNITED STATES `PATENT OEEICE.

ALFONSO ZEVADA BALDENEBRO, OF MEXICO, MEXICO.

GRADING-AMALGANIATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 664,712, dated December25, 1900.

Original application iiled September 14, 1898, Serial N o. 690,941.Divided and this application led September 15; 1899. Serial No. 730,598.(No model.)

To all whom, it nutty concern:

Be it known that I, ALFONSO ZEvADA BAL- DENEBRO, of the city of Mexico,in the Republic of Mexico, have invented a new and ImprovedGrading-Amalgamator, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

My present application is a division of that filed by me on September14, 1898, Serial No. 690,941.

My invention relates to the treatment of ores containing preciousmetals, and particularly gold ores, and has for its object to provide anamalgamating apparatus which will be of great efficiency and which willextract the metal from the ores in the nature of several amalgams ofdifferent grades obtained by the successive amalgamation of the ore.

The invention will be fully described hereinafter' and the features ofnovelty pointed out in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specication, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a sectional elevation of my improved grading-amalgamator onthe line l l in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan thereof on line 2 2in Fig. l, and Fig. 3 is a cross-section on line 3 3 in Fig. l.

The gradingamalgamator shown in the drawings comprises three conicalreceptacles ct d a2, tapering toward the bottom, which may be rounded,as shown. The receptacles are made of any suitable material, such assheet-iron, and are of different sizes. The smallest receptacle a islocated at a higher level than the others and has a wooden feedchannelb, and communication between the receptacles is made by means ofsheet-iron channels b2 b3. Each of the receptacles is provided at theinlet side with a lateral channel 't' t" t2, leading toward the bottomof the receptacle. Near the bottom, preferably at the outlet side, thereceptacles are provided with elbow-pipes c c c2, controlled by cocks ec c2 and leading to wooden channels d d/ d2. Longitudinally above thereceptacles extends a water-supply pipe h, with branch pipes h' h2 h3,controlled by cocks h5 and extending axially into the receptacles andprovided at the bottom with spraying devices h4 in the form ofperforated cones. Thesel spraying devices are located at a level belowthe bottom ends of the lateral channels t t 1?. Fi-

nally, the receptacles have bottom outlets f f f2, controlled by cocksor valves g g' g2.

In operation the receptacles are supplied with mercury to a height ofabout five or six centimeters, the cocks 'e c e2 and g g g2 beingclosed. The cocks h5 are then opened and the receptacles are filled withwater up to the top. Then the pulp is fed through the inletchannel b andflows down the channel i into the water contained within the receptaclea. In contact with the water the pulp is divided into two portions, theheavier portion consisting of auriferous pyrites or other goldcompounds, of free gold, of amalgamated particles coming from thecrushers, and of par` ticles of mercury. These heavy constituents,although they may be stirred up and partlycarried along by the owingpulp, fall to the bottom of the receptacle a. The lighter portion of thematerial consists of the magma or gangue of the ore and of very smallparticles of gold, pyrites, amalgam, and mercury. This lighter portionpasses through the channel b2 to the second receptacle a', where thesame operation as above described is repeated. A third and fourthoperation may be added, if. desired. When the supply of pulp is stopped,

Ythe cocks e e e2 are opened, allowing the heavy particles(containingthe valuable substances) to escape into the tubes c c c2 and into thechannels cl d d2, whence they are conducted to any suitable apparatusfor further treatment. The material escaping at the outlet b is waste,and practically all the amalgam, mercury, and also the floating gold isrecovered. This is due both to the provision of the mercury at thebottom of the receptacles and to the particular direction given to thecurrent of pulp by the downward channels 7l t" 712 and by the conicalspray heads or nozzles h4, which are so located in the path of 'thecurrent that the jets discharged from the nozzles will cross the maincurrent Where it issues from the said channels. When the level of themercury rises, the cocks g g g2 can be opened, so as to maintain aconstant level.

The reason for arranging the receptacles IOO a. a a2 at dierent levelsand making them of dierent sizes, as shown, is as follows: My object isto produce a current of pulp of uniform and constant velocity from thefirst receptacle to the last and also to facilitate the deposit bygravity of the mineral particles at the bottom of each receptacle. Thusthe heaviest particles, as described, are to be deposited in the firstreceptacle, the lightest or finest in the last, and intermediate gradesin the intermediate receptacles. In order to obtain this result in aperfect manner, the water contained in the receptacles should be moreand more calm as the particles to be deposited become finer-that is, inthe iirst receptacle, where the heaviest particles are deposited, theWater should have the strongest motion and less in the succeedingreceptacles. To accomplish this, I cause the current of pulp to passthrough a gradually-increasing body of Wat-er as it travels from onereceptacle to the others-that is, the iirst receptacle being thesmallest the water will be most strongly agitated in it,while the otherreceptacles being progressively larger the bodies of Water contained inthem will be comparatively calm, and thus allow the finer or lighterparticles to become deposited. By tapering the receptacles toward thebottom I cause the pulp to flow upward after its issue from the channels117112, and I also guide the pulpcurrent in such a manner that the jetsdischarged from the nozzles h4 Will cross both the descending and theascending portion of the pulp-current.

As shown in the drawings, the forward wall of each of the inlet-channels7l z" 2 has a convex inner face concentric with the opposing face of thereceptacle forming the rear wall of the channel. By this constructionthe current Howing down in said channels is given a uniform thickness inits entire width, and therefore the iow will be uniform in the entirecross-section of the channel. If the distance between the forward andrear walls at the center were greater than at the edges, the currentwould be swifter at the edges than at the center. This is avoided byhaving the inner and outer walls of the channel parallel.

vessel and provided with a spraying device.

adjacent to the tapered bottom of the receps'sY tacle, an interiorlateral channel extendingA tapered bottom of the vessel, overiiow-chan-Vnels connecting the vessels, an interior lateral channel extendingdownward from the inlet of each vessel along the inclined wall thereofand tapering toward its lower end, the outlet of said channelterminating above the spraying device, the, forward wall of said channelhaving a convex inner face corre-VV sponding with the opposing concaveinner face of the receptacle forming the rear wall Y of the channel, avalve-controlled pipe leading from the side of each vessel near thebot-V tom, channels to which the said pipes lead, Y

and a valve-controlled outlet for the bottomV of each vessel,substantially as described.

ALFONSO ZEVADA BALDENEBRO.

Witnesses:

AN'ro. J. CARRERO, JAMES R. HARDY.

50' Having thus described my invention, I: Y Y

